In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved:
KVM: x86/mmu: Only WARN in direct MMUs when overwriting shadow-present SPTE
Adjust KVM's sanity check against overwriting a shadow-present SPTE with a
another SPTE with a different target PFN to only apply to direct MMUs,
i.e. only to MMUs without shadowed gPTEs. While it's impossible for KVM
to overwrite a shadow-present SPTE in response to a guest write, writes
from outside the scope of KVM, e.g. from host userspace, aren't detected
by KVM's write tracking and so can break KVM's shadow paging rules.
------------[ cut here ]------------
pfn != spte_to_pfn(*sptep)
WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:3069 at mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/872
Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass
CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 872 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
RIP: 0010:mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm]
kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm]
kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm]
vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel]
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm]
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0
do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
</TASK>
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
KVM: x86/mmu: Only WARN in direct MMUs when overwriting shadow-present SPTE
Adjust KVM's sanity check against overwriting a shadow-present SPTE with a
another SPTE with a different target PFN to only apply to direct MMUs,
i.e. only to MMUs without shadowed gPTEs. While it's impossible for KVM
to overwrite a shadow-present SPTE in response to a guest write, writes
from outside the scope of KVM, e.g. from host userspace, aren't detected
by KVM's write tracking and so can break KVM's shadow paging rules.
------------[ cut here ]------------
pfn != spte_to_pfn(*sptep)
WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:3069 at mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/872
Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass
CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 872 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT
Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015
RIP: 0010:mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm]
Call Trace:
<TASK>
ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm]
kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm]
kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm]
vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel]
kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm]
kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm]
__x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0
do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53
</TASK>
---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]---
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux | Linux | unaffected |
|
||||||||||||
| Linux | Linux | affected |
|
No data.
No data.
No data.
Advisories
No advisories yet.
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: KVM: x86/mmu: Only WARN in direct MMUs when overwriting shadow-present SPTE Adjust KVM's sanity check against overwriting a shadow-present SPTE with a another SPTE with a different target PFN to only apply to direct MMUs, i.e. only to MMUs without shadowed gPTEs. While it's impossible for KVM to overwrite a shadow-present SPTE in response to a guest write, writes from outside the scope of KVM, e.g. from host userspace, aren't detected by KVM's write tracking and so can break KVM's shadow paging rules. ------------[ cut here ]------------ pfn != spte_to_pfn(*sptep) WARNING: arch/x86/kvm/mmu/mmu.c:3069 at mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm], CPU#0: vmx_ept_stale_r/872 Modules linked in: kvm_intel kvm irqbypass CPU: 0 UID: 1000 PID: 872 Comm: vmx_ept_stale_r Not tainted 7.0.0-rc2-eafebd2d2ab0-sink-vm #319 PREEMPT Hardware name: QEMU Standard PC (Q35 + ICH9, 2009), BIOS 0.0.0 02/06/2015 RIP: 0010:mmu_set_spte+0x1e4/0x440 [kvm] Call Trace: <TASK> ept_page_fault+0x535/0x7f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_do_page_fault+0xee/0x1f0 [kvm] kvm_mmu_page_fault+0x8d/0x620 [kvm] vmx_handle_exit+0x18c/0x5a0 [kvm_intel] kvm_arch_vcpu_ioctl_run+0xc55/0x1c20 [kvm] kvm_vcpu_ioctl+0x2d5/0x980 [kvm] __x64_sys_ioctl+0x8a/0xd0 do_syscall_64+0xb5/0x730 entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe+0x4b/0x53 </TASK> ---[ end trace 0000000000000000 ]--- | |
| Title | KVM: x86/mmu: Only WARN in direct MMUs when overwriting shadow-present SPTE | |
| First Time appeared |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| CPEs | cpe:2.3:o:linux:linux_kernel:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | |
| Vendors & Products |
Linux
Linux linux Kernel |
|
| References |
|
Projects
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MITRE
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: Linux
Published:
Updated: 2026-04-01T08:36:33.366Z
Reserved: 2026-01-13T15:37:46.012Z
Link: CVE-2026-23402
Vulnrichment
No data.
NVD
Status : Received
Published: 2026-04-01T09:16:15.670
Modified: 2026-04-01T09:16:15.670
Link: CVE-2026-23402
Redhat
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
No data.
Weaknesses
No weakness.